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Clunking after being towed

Bryan C. said:
Umm, no. Neutral is free wheeling for both driveshafts.
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Depends on the year. AFAIK all RENIX years of the 231 they are locked together in neutral but not connected to the transmission... if I had to guess the breakover year is whenever they eliminated vacuum disconnect d30s, so 91-92 or so. The vac disconnect makes it so the transfer case doesn't have to disconnect the front and rear from each other in the neutral position (which is between 4lo and 4hi, so it introduces more slopes in the shift cam) so they made it so it didn't disconnect them.

No NP242 equipped vehicle will have a vac disconnect axle though, and I don't think NP242s ever locked the front/rear together in neutral, so that's probably not relevant to this thread.

Here's the comparison of the two shift cams:
p24204_image_large.jpg


Old style left, new style right. The top surface of the cam is the mode fork shift cam, the slot in the middle is the range fork shift cam.
 
4x4 vehicles are supposed to be towed on a flatbed. I personally have towed my 00 xj on wheel lift for less than 3 miles a couple of times with no issues... However, every time we damaged a vehicle towing it the car got fixed rather quickly
 
Need some advice. I put the xj up on Jack stands. I disconnected the rear driveshaft and narrowed the clunking down to the culprit. It is in fact the 242 Tcase making all that noise. If the video could be uploaded here I would.

I've pulled 7 9/16 bolts from the area where the Tcase meets the transmission pan. The support bracket is off. Both driveshafts are off. the trans is jacked up and supported. The linkage is free. I can't find anything else connected but this orange rtv lol. This Tcase I thought would be a fight to steady it on its way out, won't move a millimeter?

Am I missing something? Am I supposed to pull the whole thing up to the trans pan? What's the easiest way to post pics?
 
Whoa whoa whoa... slow down there!

You should only have to remove 6 9/16 nuts from 6 studs that hold the transfer case to the transmission. If you're removing the bolts that hold the transfer case 4x4 adapter to the transmission, you are in for a world of hurt and should leave those alone and/or put them back in.

The transfer case weighs around 100lbs and can be a bastard to get off the transmission, you'll know when it starts though.
 
blenny said:
Well I should have specified I know renux 231s lock front rear in neutral.
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Ha, I should have specified that the later models didn't lock. I know nothing of renix era t-cases, only the later model stuff.

Thanks to Kastein for clearing it up.
 
Anyone in Sacramento that can give me a hand, today or this weekend? I'm new to jeeps and learning. I will be happy to return the favor, when you need a hand. Have to go pull one Tcase and then reinstall. Andrews Towing in Lincoln, CA may have broke the Front Axle as well when they turned it around and dragged it the other direction. o_O
 
TheDeliveryPro said:
Anyone in Sacramento that can give me a hand, today or this weekend? I'm new to jeeps and learning. I will be happy to return the favor, when you need a hand. Have to go pull one Tcase and then reinstall. Andrews Towing in Lincoln, CA may have broke the Front Axle as well when they turned it around and dragged it the other direction. o_O
Click to expand...

Post up in the Sierra Chapter that you need help. You will have better luck finding the locals there.
 
there are only 6 tcase bolts. the linkage, some sensors and a vent tube. the 231s weigh around 80 pounds, not sure on the 242s, could be heavier. and put a oil pan under where the t case meets the tranny. ATF will come out. Wiggle the t case back and forth. itll go. the thing sits pretty tight on there. I hope you didn't start taking the case halves apart or something like that. Some of the tcase to tranny bolts are a pain if you havent done them before. I use a ratcheting 9/16 wrench for some , and tons of extensions and wobble bars and universals for others.

For anyone else out there: Always request a flatbed and never allow anything less than a flat bed. Ive always done flat bed only with my rig or any other rig. Ill send em back if they bring a non flat bed.
 
I got mine out for the core and actually just dropped it onto a trash bag full of old pillows that was in the garage. Worked like a dream. With the weight of it I could have lifted it down, but with the wiggle and ATF on my hands I took the pillow route.

I would need help reinstalling the good one on the flip side. Likely tmrw or Sunday. I am about as slow as it gets doing this with no experience. Took me an hour just to get one damn nut off the exhaust side.

Thanks for the help guys. I appreciate it. I agree on the flatbed. That tow company has one and what's worse is the two owners came out, not some new hire.
 
They are not too bad to get in there. Just get your strong pants on, b'cuz bench pressing a t case while trying to line up the splines sucks but ive done twice without a tranny jack. Im busy as hell until I leave for new orleans next week otherwise id stop by. they are right, post up in the sierra chapter. If you have a buddy with a transmission jack have him bring it over. you can also put a piece of plywood on a floor jack or somethig like that to get it started. If you promise to bring it back ASAP(like the day you finish it up) i will let you borrow my transmission jack.
 
Jon,

Thanks for the advice and offer. I would like to use your floor Jack. I went a grabbed my new 242 Tcase off a 91, last night from the pick and pull. I didn't jack the junk jeeps tranny up to support it and its a good thing I was careful. That motor and trans damn near dropped down out of the sob when removing the support and pulling on the Tcase bolts. I was smart enough not to get all the way under it. That actually made removing the bolts quite a bit easier and this time around I was able to get the Tcase out in about two hours.

I will be able to get the new one in by 2pm today. I can return the jack then if I can pickup this am. I will pm you for pickup if your going to be available. Thank you, much appreciated!
 
Got the new transfer case in and everything reconnected this afternoon. It took me a day longer than expected due to several issues to work around in the install. I said a prayer and ran it while my xj was still up on the jack stands. No clunking and all the gears and 4x4 modes are working. I am not a mechanic by any means of the word and only worked on this jeep due to the situation and my current financial position. I am a little surprised that I was able to complete this to be honest. It's cool what you can accomplish if you have to.

When I turn the jeep, it seems like the right front wheel is wobbling / clunking a little bit. I am able to move it with a little play up and down while the tire is jacked up. How likely is it that the hub / bearings were damaged when the tow company turned the jeep the opposite direction to drag it from the rear with all the weight on the front axle for 3-5 miles.

I have come to the conclusion that the tow company owner put the transfer case in 4wd instead of neutral to cause all of this. Any more advice or related insight would be much appreciated. Tyia, this forum is great.
 
TheDeliveryPro said:
Got the new transfer case in and everything reconnected this afternoon. It took me a day longer than expected due to several issues to work around in the install. I said a prayer and ran it while my xj was still up on the jack stands. No clunking and all the gears and 4x4 modes are working. I am not a mechanic by any means of the word and only worked on this jeep due to the situation and my current financial position. I am a little surprised that I was able to complete this to be honest. It's cool what you can accomplish if you have to.

When I turn the jeep, it seems like the right front wheel is wobbling / clunking a little bit. I am able to move it with a little play up and down while the tire is jacked up. How likely is it that the hub / bearings were damaged when the tow company turned the jeep the opposite direction to drag it from the rear with all the weight on the front axle for 3-5 miles.

I have come to the conclusion that the tow company owner put the transfer case in 4wd instead of neutral to cause all of this. Any more advice or related insight would be much appreciated. Tyia, this forum is great.
Click to expand...

Doubt it, but a wheel bearing is a $36 part on rockauto.com for the cheap one or a $75 part for the good timken one. Let us know if you need more info on changing them, the 3 bolts holding them in are a 13mm 12 point and get torqued to 125 foot pounds, the main axle nut is a 36mm and gets torqued to 175 foot pounds, that's about all the important info. There's a trick to getting the old bearing to unseat.

You might need balljoints instead, either way, figure out which is bad and replace it. Either is an afternoon job even for a rookie with the right tools. With practice a reasonably mechanically skilled individual can do a wheel bearing in 15 minutes (alright, an hour or two if everything is rusted badly) and balljoints in an hour or so.
 
hah, I would have done my wheel bearings and U-joints ages ago (would make sense to replace that U-joint if you are replacing wheel bearing) just as PM but I fear the rusty hardware :/

Yes OP, play could be either wheel bearing or ball joints, can you have a friend wiggle the tire while you look behind it with a flashlight to see what the issue is??
 
I towed my XJ on one of those car dollies with the transfer case in N and transmission in park for 420 miles. Its a 2000 w/ NP242. Front wheels were up, rear on the ground. No problems. Sounds like the transfer case wasn't really in neutral.
 
Talyn said:
I towed my XJ on one of those car dollies with the transfer case in N and transmission in park for 420 miles. Its a 2000 w/ NP242. Front wheels were up, rear on the ground. No problems. Sounds like the transfer case wasn't really in neutral.
Click to expand...

no.....it is an older one and you can't do that with those.
 
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